Abidjan: Ivory Coast has announced that
it was setting up a national commission to investigate the crimes committed during the bloody post-election crisis that
wracked the country.

The government led by President Alassane Ouattara made
the decision at a cabinet meeting, said a statement yesterday
from spokesman Bruno Nabagne Kone.

The "national commission of inquiry is to shed light
on all the human rights violations committed during the
post-electoral crisis," said the statement.

Ouattara was sworn in late last month after a
protracted and violent political crisis sparked by his rival
Laurent Gbagbo`s refusal to accept defeat following the
country`s November election.
He had already promised that no crimes committed
during the conflict would go unpunished, no matter who
committed them, and asked The Hague-based International
Criminal Court to investigate the most serious violations.

But yesterday`s announcement comes on the heels of
allegations from Human Rights Watch yesterday that the Abidjan
authorities were only investigating abuses committed by
Gbagbo`s fighters.
UN investigators said on Friday that they had found
evidence of possible crimes against humanity by forces from
both sides.

Human Rights Watch said no one from Ouattara`s camp
had yet been arrested for abuses in the post-poll conflict.